PCT application WO 1995006208, to Weinberger, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a superconductor magnetic bearing. A stator of the bearing has a superconductor thin film assembly positioned to interact with a magnet to produce a levitation force on a shaft of the bearing.
PCT application WO 1995032542, to Hull, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes an apparatus and method for reducing magnetic field inhomogeneities which produce rotational loss mechanisms in high temperature superconducting magnetic bearings. Magnetic field inhomogeneities are claimed to be reduced by dividing high temperature superconducting structures into smaller pellets.
An article entitled “Superconducting Levitation Using Coated Conductors” by Sass et al., published in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Vol. 23, No. 3, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes superconducting magnetic bearings using second-generation wires. The article describes using stacked wires in evaluation of the bearings.
An article entitled “Application of 2G-Tape for Passive and Controlled Superconducting Levitation” by Sass et al., published in IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Vol. 21, No. 3, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes implementing a double pancake superconducting coil to test 2G wires in levitation technology.
An article entitled “Trapped fields up to 2 T in a mm square stack of commercial superconducting tape using pulsed field magnetization” by Patel et al., published in Supercond. Sci. Technol. 26 (2013), which is incorporated herein by reference, describes using a stack of superconducting tape pieces as a quasi-permanent magnet activated by a pulsed magnetic field.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.